Belonging
by SimOph52
Summary: Brennan is alone in bed tonight contemplating. A short drabble that may turn into something.
1. Chapter 1

I need your guys' input on this one on whether I should continue. Toss me some ideas, tell me what you would like to see. I promise to update regularly. I'm trying to get back into the writing game as my muse went on an extended vacation, but she appears to be back now and ready to work.

Let me know what you guys want!

* * *

She lays in the cool comfort of her bed between the hard mattress beneath her and the security of her comforter above her. She smiles slightly at a thought that crosses her mind about something funny that her partner said to her today and with that, as these thoughts always do, it brings the inevitable feeling of loneliness.

Sometimes, just on the verge between sleep and awake, she imagine what it would feel like in her bed with his arms wrapped gently around her. Sometimes her fantasy of him is so near life like that she can feel the weight of his elbow resting in the dip between her ribs and her hip; feel the light brush of his breath on the back of her neck or even sometimes feel him shift in bed behind her.

Her excitement, as she is just entering a light dream state, wakes her up in hopes of snuggling closer to him in the darkness of their bedroom, but as always, she wakes up alone realizing that the best moment of her day was just the wishful thinking manifesting itself in her dream.

She shifts in bed and grabs the extra second pillow out from under her head and hugs it close into her chest, praying that it turn into him for just a moment. She thinks, for just a second, that maybe if the thought of being with him for a mere moment makes her this happy that she should use her "ovaries of steel" and just admit both to herself and eventually him how she feels. Instead, she shoves the pillow out of her bed and rolls over, putting the illogical thoughts out of her head and recites the names of the bones in the body until she drifts off asleep; realizing with regret that the bones she counts belong to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Here is the new chapter. I went in a little different direction with it then I originally intended, but I've been reading a book with a character who kind of reminds me of Temperance and got an idea from it.

* * *

Awaking from another restless sleep, she kicked the covers off of her body and sighed. Her dreams were becoming more realistic in design, causing her waking moments to be filled with a tangible loneliness.

It was Saturday and normally it would be like any other day for her. She would go to work in order to catch up on assignments and projects that had been cast aside for a case, unfortunately for her; however, she was so far ahead of schedule that Cam had exiled her to a mandatory weekend off.

Finally pulling herself out of bed, she took a quick shower and picked up the newspaper that had been left on her door step. She read up on her current events while standing in her kitchen in a pair of boxer shorts and an old, stained tank top and ate half a bagel with organic jelly. After becoming bored with all of the redundant articles and horribly misspelled words, she tossed the paper into her recycling and attempted to think of something to do.

Angela was out of town visiting her father on tour this weekend and Brennan became suddenly struck by the fact that she only had two friends. She dug her cell phone out of her bag and dialed the familiar number and waited for an answer.

"Hey Bones!" the delightfully smooth voice that always brought a smile to her face answered.

Brennan blushed at his greeting and leaned on the kitchen counter trying to sound casual, "Hey Booth."

"What's going on? Did you find some murder victim from the 12th century in limbo or something, because honestly, I don't think the FBI would care too much about cases so cold they've turned to popsicles." He joked.

"No." she laughed, "Actually, I've decided to take the weekend off." She lied.

"Mmhmm…" Booth hummed skeptically, "Cam kicked you out, didn't she?" he asked.

"What! No, Booth! Is it so hard to believe that I occasionally like to partake in some TLC?" she asked.

Booth paused for a moment, "I think you meant R&R, Bones. Rest and relaxation. TLC stands for tender love and care."

"Oh." She said, smacking her forehead lightly, "Right, of course."

She could hear Booth laugh lightly over the phone, "So what do you have planned for your big weekend off?" he asked, "Writing new chapters of your salacious novel? Volunteering in Haiti?"

Brennan rolled her eyes, "I actually finished the book a week ago and I think Haiti is too far to fly to for only a weekend."

"Yeah, I guess your right about that." She could hear the smile in his voice.

"So…" she said casually, or as casually as she can ever sound, "What are you doing today?" she asked.

Booth paused for a moment before answering. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest hoping that he would say 'nothing, let's hang out', and yet at the same time she almost hoped that he was busy, "Actually," he started, "I'm going to pick up Parker in a little bit and we were going to play some football in the park."

"Oh." She said, not only feeling disappointed but actually sounding disappointed.

"Yeah, sorry." He said softly.

"What? No. What are you sorry for, Booth?" she asked.

"Umm… I just assumed that you wanted to hang out today." He said.

Brennan straightened her stance and put her hand on her hip, "Did I ask you if you wanted to _hang out_?" she said defensively.

"No." he said cautiously.

"If I had wanted to, Booth, I would have just asked you. So don't feel sorry for me. I have plenty of things that I need to do today."

"Then why did you call me?" he asked.

"Well… I just wanted to see how you were. And you're obviously well, so, I have to go now. A lot of things need to be done around here." She said, hitting the end button on her cell phone.

Booth looked down at his phone and found that she had indeed hung up on him. Booth smiled and shook his head. Last night had been a terrible night for him. Sleeping was never something that came easily to him as he always found something to feel guilty or embarrassed about that would in turn keep him up all night replaying the images over and over inside his head. For the past few years now, and most frequently since his coma, it was the visions of her that replayed themselves in his head at night.

Sometimes, just on the verge between sleep and awake, he could imagine himself falling into her arms in the dead of night, feeling the immense pleasure of finally being on the right path in life. Sometimes his fantasies would make him feel so whole, so completed that he would feel a sense of inadequacy upon wakening, knowing that this dream version of himself was the only version of himself that could make her love him the way he always hoped that she could.

He bites into a piece of toast and picks up his phone and dials the familiar number and waits, "Hello?" says his little man on the other end of the line.

"Hey Parks." He says, then taking a sip of milk.

"Dad! What's up?" Parker screams on the other end.

"Just checking up. How was school yesterday?" he asked.

He could hear the rustling of a windbreaker and assumed his son shrugged, "It was alright, I guess. Science is way boring now though, 'cause Max taught me all this stuff but in way funner ways."

Booth rolled his eyes, "'Funner' is not a word, Parker." He scolded.

"Whatever." Parker responded.

"Okay, bub. I know you have Brian's birthday party, laser tag thing today so have fun okay?"

"Okay, Dad!"

"I love you, bub." Booth said.

"Love you too, Dad. Bye!"

Booth heard the phone click on the other end and hung up his phone. He chugged the rest of the milk in his glass and went to his bedroom to get dressed.


	3. Chapter 3

It had officially been an hour since she made a fool of herself to her partner on the phone. The mere though of their conversation, and to be honest, it was all that she could think about, made her feel like a fool. Why had she become so defensive with his question? Why had she felt the need to rebuff him in such a ridiculously outlandish way?

Of course she had wanted to spend her day with him. She wished that she could spend every waking moment with the man, but for some reason, his assumption had caused her to run right back into her safety net of cold indifference.

She had attempted to read a book in the time that she had spoken with him but couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting back to their earlier conversation. She couldn't take it anymore. She had to apologize to him. She stood up and shrugged on her coat and picked up her car keys, ready to go to his house and beg for his forgiveness when she remembered Parker.

Maybe she shouldn't go after all, she thought to herself holding the door open trying to decide what direction she should move in. The memory of her mother's voice drifted through her head, 'In or out, Temperance. Pick one and stick with it!'. She smiled to herself and shook her head. She desperately felt the need to apologize to her partner but she couldn't go over to his apartment with just that thought in mind. She quickly shut her door in front of her and ran into her bedroom, reluctantly grabbing her sweatshirt, which actually belonged to him. She held it lovingly up to her nose, hating the fact that she would have to return the object and second guessed herself. Could she really handle giving up his sweatshirt just to see him for one day? Just to apologize for snapping at him. Perhaps the sweatshirt was more valuable being her secret comfort item; the one shirt that she could wrap herself in at the end of a terribly exhausting day and feel nothing but loved.

Did he even know that he was missing it? Did he remember that he had left it at her apartment on night? She always wondered if perhaps he had left it there on purpose to see if she would return the article of clothing or keep it for herself. She reasoned that seeing him once made up for a year with an object that had no intrinsic meaning and tucked the sweatshirt under her arm and made her way downstairs to her car.

She knew that if he had Parker today as he had said that she was not going to intrude upon their time, however, if she had a perfectly logical reason for stopping by, such as bringing back his sweatshirt which she 'found' while cleaning up her apartment she could effectively apologize to him without seeming awkward or forced.

As she neared his apartment, her heart, as it always did, began beating harder in her chest. She parked her car across the street from his apartment, as there was no other place to park and reached over the grab her bag and the sweatshirt from the passenger seat.

Just as she was about to open her door, she saw the door to his building open and watched as her partner hopped down the steps from his apartment. He looked just as good as he always did. His hair was perfectly mussed, the way it usually is, making his appearance look haphazard even though it was always precisely placed that way. She was about to attempt to run up to him, but before she could even fully exit her vehicle, he hopped into his SUV and drove away.

Brennan huffed and sat back in her seat, her left leg planted on the ground just outside of her vehicle and his sweatshirt still clutched in her hand. Now what? Should she follow him? She assumed that he was just going to pick up Parker and he had told her earlier that they would be at the park, so in reality, it wouldn't be odd if she showed up there to give him the sweatshirt and subsequent apology. She put her things back in the passenger seat of the car and shut her door while turning the ignition. She pulled out of her spot and drove off in the same direction as he did.


End file.
